The condominiums in the Steinway Tower, a 1,428-foot tall building going up in an area known as “Billionaires’ Row,” start at $7 million and go up to $59 million for the most expensive penthouse, according to CityRealty.com, a real estate listings and research company. Condominiums on high floors are between $20 million and $30 million. All told, the developers expect to reap $1.45 billion from sales.

Building in the shadows: 3.2M sf of new construction being built with this permit

By Kevin Sun
May 16, 2018

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Among the many skyscrapers sprouting up along “Billionaires’ Row,” there is one that’s technically not a new building at all. JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group’s skinny condo project at 111 West 57th Street is classified as an alteration of the Steinway Hall building – an alteration that adds 300,000 square feet in floor space and 66 additional stories.

That project, and many others that the New York City Department of Buildings has officially categorized as alterations, highlights the technical intricacies of determining what counts as a “new building” – a definition that has major significance for developers navigating complex building and zoning rules.

“There’s a bright line between when something is no longer an alteration and then has to be filed as a new building permit, and this is something the Department enforces carefully,” said Mitchell Korbey, a zoning and land use expert at law firm Herrick Feinstein.

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The 30 largest alteration jobs currently in progress — with additions ranging from 62,000 to 320,000 square feet — are expected to add a total of 3.6 million square feet of floor space to the city, according to a data analysis by the The Real Deal. That compares with the approximately 190 million square feet under way in new building filings, the analysis showed.

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In its simplest form, DOB rules require all jobs that preserve any existing building elements – including parts of foundations or facades – to be filed as “alterations” and not as “new buildings.” Basically, either you totally demolish, or you amend it.

Alterations to old buildings are generally allowed to follow old building codes (with exceptions for things like safety and the environment), which is often advantageous to developers looking to maximize returns on their space. But if an “alteration” more than doubles a building’s floor area (technically, the cutoff point is a 110 percent increase), then the latest building code comes into effect as if it were a brand new building.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

As much as I'd love to see this in her completed form, I appreciate that this is a slow one. Soon will come the time when it is complete, but for now it is an exciting future I am excitedly anticipating. This one will make a mark in skyscraper history, and seeing her flourish into reality is a dream our eyes have the privilege to witness.